Sadler seeks first stakes win of meet with Alpha Bella
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer John Sadler will be after his first stakes win since early November when Alpha Bella starts in Saturday’s Grade 1 Beholder Mile for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.
Alpha Bella was withdrawn from the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes on turf at Santa Anita last Saturday. A 5-year-old, Alpha Bella worked a half-mile in 47 seconds on Sunday for the $300,000 Beholder Mile.
“She looked beautiful,” Sadler said. “She’s run well on both surfaces and we wanted to look at both races.”
Sadler has had five second- and third-place finishes in stakes at the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, which began on Dec. 26. The most recent of those placings was Supa Speed’s nose loss when second to Maysam in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on dirt Sunday.
Alpha Bella was second in the Grade 3 La Canada Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Jan. 19 behind the undefeated Cavalieri, a leading candidate for the Beholder Mile.
Later this year, Sadler hopes to have a core of South American-breds in major stakes, a group led by Full Serrano, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 2. Full Serrano, an Argentine-bred who was the stable’s most recent stakes winner, was sidelined in December and has resumed training for a campaign expected to begin as soon as the spring.
The stable recently acquired two Argentine-bred group stakes winners in Napa Valley and Little Hidden Port. Napa Valley was a Group 1 winner at a mile in November, while Little Hidden Port won a Group 2 in December.
Full Serrano, Little Hidden Port, and Napa Valley are owned by Hronis Racing.
On March 30, Sadler hopes to start Kings River Knight in the $100,000 Sensational Star Stakes for statebreds at 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course. The 7-year-old, who worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 on Sunday, has won 10 of 16 starts and earned $649,830. The gelding is a six-time stakes winner.
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